Measles Makes Your Immune System Forget How to Fight Other Diseases

Not so long ago, coming down with measles was seen almost as a rite of passage. Before measles vaccination began in the U.S. in the early 1960s, millions of Americans, many of them children, contracted the virus each year—forcing them to weather a flu-like illness and telltale skin rash, but also bestowing lifelong immunity. As a result, some Americans still view measles as relatively harmless—which, in addition to a dangerous uprising of anti-vaccine sentiment, has led some parents to decline shots for their children, contributing to a resurgence of preventable illness in the U.S. and overseas. A pair of related studies published in Science and Science Immunology, however, busts the myth that measles isn’t dangerous. In addition to being a serious disease in its own right, measles can also virtually wipe out a person’s immune system, leaving them with “immune amnesia” that makes them more susceptible to other diseases, according to the research. Doctors have long known that measles predisposes sufferers to other illnesses. Measles can lead to serious complications like neurological damage, but many of the approximately 110,000 global measles-related deaths each year actually come from concurrent infections like pneumonia. The new studies are among the first to demonstrate why that happens. “Every time we see a pathogen, our immune system recognizes this pathogen, builds immunity to it and then stores it in the form of immune memory,...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized embargoed study Infectious Disease Research Source Type: news